Apr
26

Word-Whores: Guest Post on Writing Advice

Posted in blog | Tagged , , | Leave a comment
Okay – this should be my final week for needing a guest blogger to take over the reins for my posts over at Word Whores. This week it’s been all about good and bad reading advice – and it’s been great to see  how the more things change…the more things stay the same. (As in – everyone seems to get so much of the same sorts of advice, but really, it’s up to the *writer* to decide how much of it is useful. Like everything else, I suppose. Sort through the details, ignore what isn’t helpful and take the rest as you can. My guest poster is Tonia Laird – who is an up-and-coming writer over at Bioware (ha ha, my dream job, right? Game writing, FTW!) In the meantime, I’m plugging away on my revisions, as usual. Technically they are due tomorrow, but my back pain went crazy the… Read more
Apr
25

Up to Speed

Posted in blog | Tagged , , | 2 Comments
I’m at that stage in my revisions where everything starts looking like crap. Part of that is just the pressure of knowing it needs to be finished in the next few days, and part because it’s *all* I’ve looked at for the last two weeks. Not that I don’t love my story…but when you’re nitpicking every little word it can be hard to tell. Is this necessary? Should I put something else in here? Do I need to go back and drop a line or two about something that happened two books ago? Or will the reader just know? And bringing new readers up to speed is probably one of my biggest failings. For one, I usually hate doing it. It always feels a bit false to me. “Let me just drop a summary paragraph….HERE!” It’s can be hard to do it in an organic fashion without feeling like an… Read more
Apr
24

Tuesday Morning Shiny

Posted in blog | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment
I’m stuck working from home today with freaked out nerve and hoping a day of ice will calm it down, so today’s post is just going to be full of silly things that make me laugh. First off is this lovely Abby/Brystion sketchcard by Aimo, commissioned as a gift for Danielle.  (And no, it doesn’t make me laugh, but it sure does make me smile.) You know what else makes me smile? Looking at the proofs for the Fox & Willow comic! We’re so close to starting it up (next week!) and I can’t wait to start posting it – Aimo has truly outdone herself. The artwork is fabulous (and I only hope my storytelling abilities do it justice.) Otherwise, a few other bits of random wtfkery… For some reason I can’t stop playing it. It’s so messed up, and yet so terribly catchy. And then I’ve got this lovely… Read more
Apr
23

What Comes Easiest

Posted in blog | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment
First up, just wanted to mention that I’m being interviewed over at Red Hot Books today as part of the AAD Spotlight series. If you’re interested in learning a little more about Brystion’s motivations, I suggest you check it out. (I don’t talk about him much usually, so it’s a nice change.) Anyway, the main point to this post was just something I observed at the grocery store the other day. I’m trying to lose a few pounds, so I’m trying to watch what I eat a little closer. (Although I have to admit many days have been a rather large fail on that part when it comes to the revisions – I can’t help it – it’s stress, pure and simple.) Anyway, I keep noticing how so many food packages announce 100 calorie versions of their snacks. Which I guess is nice in theory – 100 calories doesn’t sound… Read more
Apr
20

Don’t Be a Dick

Posted in blog | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments
Last night was Lucy’s kindergarten concert. I only know this because I was there – not because I actually saw her perform. Even though she was in the front row of her group. I was sitting about 10 rows back from the stage, so I should have been able to see her just fine. But I couldn’t. Because for some reason, a huge chunk of the parents in front of me decided it was more important for them to stand during most of the performance. Or to hold their cameras up to film it in its entirety, arms blocking everything. (Including one father who basically just stood up holding his iPad.) And you know – I get that this moment is important for some people. But that doesn’t give parents the right to be dick-bags. We’d all like to see our kids perform. (And thanks to those parents who stood… Read more